Govt rapped for not building houses for poor

In a latest report, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has come down heavily on different implementing agencies of the government for their failure to provide low cost housing for the poor despite getting sanctioned projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

Despite a target of four lakh houses set by the Delhi government, only 1,10,584 were sanctioned under the JNNURM at a cost of R4,327.46 crore. Out of this, plans for 45,920 houses were dropped due to availability of hindrance-free land and finally only 10,684 could be completed and 585 houses have been allotted.

The report has rapped the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), the government’s nodal agency for housing for the poor, for dereliction.

In fact, DUSIB has purchased eight staff cars for Rs. 27.82 lakh out of the fund. Work on three housing projects had to be abandoned by DUSIB after spending Rs. 38.74 crore because the stair cases were too narrow.

“DUSIB did not complete even a single house during the mission period despite incurring a cost of Rs. 74.20 crore on various projects,” the report said. It said the DUSIB “had neither adequate manpower nor expertise/mechanism to carry out this Herculean task” (of being the nodal agency). It has taken a dig at the Delhi State Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) for incurring additional cost of Rs. 12.97 crore in four projects on cost escalation due to delay.